SAROS SLOWLY BACKED AWAY, keeping low to the ground as his father's wand was aimed directly at his face. One moment, he had been questioning the validity of everything his family had told him since they arrived at St Mungo's, the next, his father looked as though he was going to attack him. His own mother and Draco did not follow them into the room, leaving it only the two of them and as Lucius opened his mouth to speak, Saros could only hear the sound of his heart pounding in his chest.

"This is for your own good," Lucius said, " you are a danger to yourself right now, son. If you keep this up, there won't be anything I can do to protect you."

"What are you talking about?!" Saros shook his head. "The only thing I need to protect myself from is the lot of you. You're the ones lying to me! You won't answer any of my questions because you all did something to me!"

"We did nothing! It has been your own actions that have led you to this moment! I have been trying to protect you-"

"How? By taking my prosthetic after you dumped me somewhere?! Those muggles found me, but you had my leg. So what does that mean? You all just left me somewhere? Were you that upset with me that you knew where I was the whole time, you just wanted to punish me?!"

With emotions running rampant, the two were practically growing hysterical with every passing second. Saros was desperate for the truth and Lucius was desperate to keep Saros safe, even if his son didn't believe his intentions.

"The last I saw you, Saros, was in a graveyard, running away. Then you collapsed and I thought you were dead, and when I came upon where you fell, you were gone! The only thing left was your leg that you left behind. I didn't have the slightest idea as to where you ended up. If I had known, I would have gone after you. I would have done everything I could-"

"To finish the job?!"

Furious that his son would insinuate such a thing, Lucius grabbed Saros by the front of his shirt. "You may not remember much of that night, but I do. I remember clearly that the Dark Lord wanted you dead because you were a blood-traitor! And what's more, he wanted me to be the one to do it!"

As Lucius' hands loosened, Saros moved away as he watched his own father start to cry. The grown man practically crumbled to the floor before him, his knees hitting first before his head dropped to look down. Saros didn't know what to do in those moments, only watching in silence as sweat beaded over his brow.

"He wanted me to kill you. My son," Lucius whispered, " and I couldn't do it. I begged him for mercy, and he said if I couldn't do it, he would. As if it was an act of mercy. But it was the way you looked at me...your eyes said it all. You believed that I would actually do it."

"Why wouldn't I believe that?" Saros questioned him. "Look at us right now, I questioned you and you already have your wand aimed at me. This so-called Dark Lord wanted me dead, do you still serve him?"

The silence nearly said everything that needed to be said at that moment. Saros' lips parted in shock.

"You sit here and you cry about me almost dying but you still serve under him! The man that wanted me dead, you still follow him! You have the nerve to cry, the nerve to act as if you care about me-"

"I do it to keep this family safe-"

"You do it because you're a fucking coward!"

There was a sudden shift in Lucius' demeanour as the tears came to an abrupt end and looked to be replaced with anger. He went to grab Saros again, but this time, Saros managed to push his hands away and keep a safe distance.

"Do you have any idea of what I went through when you returned? What I went through to keep you safe, to make sure he would let you live. The threat he placed on you, your mother, your brother-"

"It's your fault!" Saros countered. "You're the one who put us in this situation then. You want to serve someone that threatens your family! It's your fault!"

"It is my fault," Lucius said quietly, " but I need to protect my family. I need to protect you. I failed you so many times before, but I won't fail you now. I'll keep you safe. Those friends of yours at school, they've corrupted your mind. You don't need them, you don't need that Angie in your head. She put you in this situation-"

"Are you trying to convince me of that or yourself?"

For a minute or so, it became quiet again with Lucius staring off distantly, while Saros' eyes fixated on the door contemplating some sort of escape plan. It seemed Lucius didn't notice Saros slowly inching his way towards the door until Saros' hand was on the doorknob.

"You don't know what he's capable of, Son," Lucius spoke again, " you haven't seen the pain he has brought onto others that oppose him, that betray him. I've only felt a sliver of what he is capable of, I've seen the full extent. That is what awaits you if you keep down this path. But I won't let it happen. I can't, I don't ever want to lose you again."

Saros felt the wand pressed into the middle of his back. "So, what are you going to do? Erase my memories of this ever happening, so I go back to being the good little boy you want?"

"If it means keeping you safe-"

He looked over his shoulder, meeting his father's gaze. "Is this what you're going to every time? Every time I come close to figuring something out, are you going to drag me in here and...and...do this? Is this your idea of what a happy family is? Look at yourself, Lucius, look at what you've become. Look at what you're doing to your family and ask yourself why."

Lucius' jaw tightened, clearly trying to contain any more crying despite the fact that he was failing terribly.

"It won't hurt," he said to Saros, " it'll only take a second-"

At that moment, Saros knew there was no way he could escape. He didn't have a wand on him and even then, he was severely outmatched in his state if it came to duelling his father. Neither his brother or his mother were going to come to his defence. They wanted their "perfect" little Saros back too.

"Fine," Saros swallowed, " go ahead, but you're going to look me in the eyes while doing this. I'm going to look at the coward that keeps this family in danger. And you're going to look at me while you damage me further. You're not saving me, you're not saving this family, you're just saving your arse a little longer. But eventually, your Dark Lord won't be so forgiving anymore and then what?"

Nothing else was said between the two of them, only Lucius pressing his wand to the side of Saros' head and then a flash of white light.

Madam Pomfrey would have gladly paid a good sum of money if it meant keeping Saros out of the Hospital Wing. After dealing with his bouts of fatigue and malnourishment the year before, she was hoping that things would turn around for the young man. But since his arrival before the term had even officially started when he fainted on the train, it was clear that he was still a troubled boy.

When Fred and George Weasley came in carrying Saros with a frantic Angelina Johnson and even more frantic Draco Malfoy, she couldn't help but sigh feeling so sorry for Saros. She was thankful that he was surrounded by people that cared about him, but it seemed he was plagued by a string of bad luck.

Take a bludger to the head was no pleasant experience even with magical healing on standby. He was unconscious and the side of his head was bloody, but thankfully, there didn't seem to be any damage to his skull or any internal bleeding. She instructed Saros' group to leave while she got to work, although they all seemed rather hesitant. However, none of them bothered to argue, trusting that she would take care of Saros to the best of her abilities.

Eventually, when she finished healing his headwound, she settled him on one of the beds and allowed him to rest. She checked on him every half-hour but it seemed his body was catching up on extra rest while it had the chance. Angelina and the twins returned together, and surprisingly, Draco returned later with Luna Lovegood in his company. They, of course, bombarded Pomfrey with plenty of questions but she reassured all of them that Saros was going to be fine, he just needed rest.

The night settled in and Pomfrey took it upon herself to kick out all the visitors. Saros was her only overnight stay and just as she was about to settle down and rest her aching feet, she heard some commotion from Saros' bed. Quickly pushing herself up, she reached his bedside as he sat up and started crying out. He still appeared to be asleep, trapped in a nightmare of sorts, as he sat up and was just yelling.

Over the years, she had learned that some of her patients suffering from night terrors often lashed out when anyone attempted to intervene, leaving her cautious. Placing her hand on his shoulder, Pomfrey waited for the reaction and as soon as he seemed to feel the warmth of her hand, he leaned into her. In seconds, his upper body rested against hers as he sobbed. His arms came to wrap around her as he held onto the Healer tightly.

Saros had woken up at some point while he was holding onto Madam Pomfrey and when he did, he didn't bother with letting go. At that point, he just needed someone to hold or someone to hold him. The amount of pain he felt at that moment, he couldn't even describe how much it hurt.

All he knew was, he was suffering from a broken heart.

Back to the Quidditch World Cup and the Graveyard, it was the same emotion charging through his body at the time. It was heartbreak. Knowing that his father was not strong enough to be there for his family like he needed to be. Not only was Lucius a coward, but he was also leading the entire Malfoy family to a definite grave.

It was the same man that Saros had admired so much growing up, knowing from an early age that he wanted to be just like his father. His earliest memories after the tragedy of the first Quidditch World Cup revolved around his father assisting him as he adjusted to the new prosthetic leg. Making sure that Saros had the best of the best care when it came to any sort of treatment that could help him.

Lucius Malfoy had been a hero for so long. Someone that Saros had put his full trust in, but slowly, the perfect image of his father faded over time. Incidents such as the attack at the Quidditch World Cup last year and the graveyard had reduced Lucius to someone Saros hardly even recognised anymore. The pathetic excuse that Lucius wouldn't stop serving the Dark Lord in order to save his family took the last bit of respect Saros had for him.

His father was just a scared man and his actions were going to get him and Saros' family killed. Draco still believed that their parents would come around and the family would come together again. But Saros didn't see that happening anymore. Their father was too afraid to try and leave the service under the Dark Lord, even if it meant keeping the family at risk. Andromeda had offered to help them and they wouldn't take it.

If Lucius was willing to obliviate his own son's memories to keep him compliant, there was no telling what else he would do. Now that Draco was attempting to do better and open his mind outside of the prejudiced beliefs, Lucius would more than likely become even more desperate.

He was going to become even more dangerous.

"I need to speak with Professor Dumbledore," Saros told Madam Pomfrey after he managed to calm down enough to talk. " I need to talk to him now-"

"Mr Malfoy, it is past midnight right now, if this has to do with what took place on the Quidditch pitch this afternoon, I believe it can wait until the morning. From what I heard Professor McGonagall has been dealing with the situation-"

"No, no, it has nothing to do with that, I just need...I need to speak to him. It's important."

"It's also important that you get some rest, Mr Malfoy. You took a strong hit to the head. I will personally see to it that Professor Dumbledore gets your message by the morning if you would like to tell me."

It seemed he was debating whether or not to say something to her, but he trusted Madam Pomfrey. She had been there for him plenty of times last year and so for, a good amount of times that term as well.

"Can you tell him...can you tell him that I'm ready to testify against my father?"